Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.

Director:

Shekhar Kapur

Writers:

William Nicholson, Michael Hirst

Stars:

Jordi Mollà, Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush

Won 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jordi Mollà	...	King Philip ll of Spain
Aimee King	...	Infanta
Cate Blanchett	...	Queen Elizabeth I
Laurence Fox	...	Sir Christopher Hatton
John Shrapnel	...	Lord Howard
Geoffrey Rush	...	Sir Francis Walsingham
Susan Lynch	...	Annette
Elise McCave	...	Laundry Woman
Samantha Morton	...	Mary Stuart
Abbie Cornish	...	Bess Throckmorton
Penelope McGhie	...	Margaret
Rhys Ifans	...	Robert Reston
Eddie Redmayne	...	Thomas Babington
Stuart McLoughlin	...	Savage
Clive Owen	...	Sir Walter Raleigh

Storyline

Two faiths, two empires, two rulers - colliding in 1588. Papist Spain wants to bring down the heretic Elizabeth. Philip is building an armada but needs a rationale to attack. With covert intrigue, Spain sets a trap for the Queen and her principal secretary, Walsingham, using as a pawn Elizabeth's cousin Mary Stuart, who's under house arrest in the North. The trap springs, and the armada sets sail, to rendezvous with French ground forces and to attack. During these months, the Virgin Queen falls in love with Walter Raleigh, keeping him close to court and away from the sea and America. Is treachery or heroism at his heart? Does loneliness await her passionate majesty?

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Plot Keywords:

queen | spain | intrigue | court | america | 

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Taglines:

Woman. Warrior. Queen.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, some sexuality and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Studio Canal [fr]

Country:

UK France USA Germany

Language:

English Spanish Swedish

Release Date:

12 October 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Elizabeth - La edad de oro

Filming Locations:

Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,348,440 (UK) (2 November 2007)

Gross:

£4,856,733 (UK) (30 November 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Angharad Rees, best known for her performance as Demelza in the 1970s BBC television series Poldark, designed some of the jewelry worn by Queen Elizabeth and her ladies in waiting. Pieces from Rees' Qing Dynasty Collection appear throughout the film.

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Goofs

Several times, Elizabeth's nails are manicured in 18th-century French style.

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Quotes

Queen Elizabeth I: Are you here to tell me I must murder a Queen?
Sir Walter Raleigh: I would never presume to tell my Queen what to do. Only you know where your duty lies.
Queen Elizabeth I: Was it my father's duty to murder my mother? She was a Queen, for a time. Oh, I would be loath to die such so bloody a death.
Sir Walter Raleigh: Since when were you so afraid?
Queen Elizabeth I: I'm always afraid.
Sir Walter Raleigh: Kill a Queen and all Queens are mortal. We mortals have many weaknesses: we feel too much, hurt too much, all too soon we die, but we do have the chance of love.
Queen Elizabeth I: Do we? I have given England...

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Connections

Follows Elizabeth (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Love Theme - Arrest"
Written by David Hirschfelder
Conducted by David Hirschfelder, Ric Formosa and Sam Schwartz (as Sam Schwarz)
Courtesy of Universal Studios

User Reviews

Needs More Clarity

I understand what really happened during this time period but for someone who is not aware it is hard to follow. Overall though it was good but not too special except for Cate Blanchett. After her, the costumes and art direction it wasn't too great.

The acting of this movie overall was OK. Cate Blanchett was phenomenal showing her vulnerability and the complexities in her character having to deal with so many problems and yet having to stay in control. She fit her part perfectly as she did in the first movie. Like the first she really actually gave you the feeling of what a queen from back then might have been like. I like Clive Owen but I hated hated him in this movie. His style was too cliché and what really brought him down was not really realizing the point of his character. I understand Blanchett is supposed to be in love with him but he really just feels like he could have been cut from the entire movie and it wouldn't of made the slightest difference. I would have liked to have seen Geoffrey Rush much more in this movie but unfortunately his role was very limited.

The art direction and costume design was great. You could see some great photography and landscapes with great setup with the clothing. It was sort of able to fill the void with some of the mistakes made in this movie but it just was not enough.

Overall though the directing and editing was poor. The directing failed miserably at giving you an idea of what is happening. Even if you do get it, the movie fails at really showing how this event makes Elizabeth important great and why it is important. This has to do with the editing a lot as well.

I would recommend this movie strictly for Blanchett's performance. This is not really a movie too understand history through though.